Azerbaijan , Baku, March 3 / Trend, A.Yusifzade /
The National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC), a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), will start drilling operations in Azar oil field in July, 2011, Neft News reported quoting the deputy managing director of the NIDC for drilling operations, Mohammad Reza Takaydi as saying.
Under the contract with Petroleum Engineering and Development Company (PEDEC), eight wells will be drilled in Azar oil field, Takaydi said.
The oil field development is forecast to last for six years with a production capacity of from 50,000 to 65,000 barrels a day over 25 years.
Earlier the managing director of PEDEC Naji Sadouni said that at present the oil field has been cleared of land mines, some roads have been constructed and the location is ready for drilling while drilling rigs would be transferred to the area over next three to four months.
He said that the oil field would be developed by meeting financial resources from within the county and its development would be ceded to domestic investors.
Sadouni said that production of the oil fields located west of Karoun River, southwest of Iran, will rise to 1.5 million barrels a day over the next 10 years. These oil fields include Northern Azadegan, Southern Azadegan, Yadavaran and Azar.
As part of the Anaran Block and one of the most difficult fields in view of drilling, Azar oil field is located between Dehloran and Ilam cities with recoverable reserves of 400 million barrels.
Iran 's deputy minister of petroleum for planning and supervision on hydrocarbon resources, Mohsen Khojastemehr said 2,400 oil wells will be drilled over the Fifth Five Year Development Plan lasting by 2016.
Khojastemehr also said that some $150 billion would be invested in the upstream sector over the Fifth Five Year Development Plan of which $40 billion would be allocated to well drilling.
NIDC as a subsidiary of NIOC in upstream sector is in charge of 90 percent of drilling of oil and gas wells across the county. The company was established in 1979.
Iran has OPEC's second-highest oil output, and ranks second in the world in terms of natural gas reserves after Russia.